Print Edition Now Available!

Print editions of my book are now also available!

For those of you that don't own a Kindle and still want to read Finding Beauty in the Breakdown, I've just received notice that it is now available in paperback for $3.99 from Amazon (which is super cheap when you think about it). At 70 pages, it's the perfect size for some light afternoon reading, and when your done, you can pass it along to a friend and spread the message! :)

I have to say, I think the print edition looks pretty nifty myself! I did all of the design by myself (too cheap to pay for a designer when I own Photoshop) and the pictures are courtesy of my personal photographer (also known as my Mommy). Yes, those are my feet. And my toes. At the beach. :)

So. Excited.

I'm so excited (and I just can't hide it).

Reason #237384 I'm not a great blogger- I can't plan out things nice and neat time wise, because I just can't keep a secret.

[I had a really great video to post right here, but Max made me promise not to post it. Apparently dancing like a dork on video with your sister isn't cool. Who knew? But, he did tell me I could keep it on my computer for blackmail purposes to use when he is rich and famous, so I guess that is okay.]

I feel like most of us take a break on the weekend from catching up on blogs. I mean, weekends are time to spend with friends and family. Some of yall may not see this until Monday. Plus, I'm a mere three (now two) posts away from the highly anticipated 500. That seems like a great place to make a super big, ginormous announcement. But, that's okay. I just can't wait. I'm bursting at the seams.

Do any of you remember this?

I'm done. I mean...I'M A PUBLISHED AUTHOR!!!!! (meaning I have a book and it's being sold on Amazon, so I get this pretty nifty page with my picture on it. not meaning that I have a contract with a publishing company, though that would be pretty sweet if anyone has connections)

I just couldn't wait to share the news. This has always been my dream. As a little girl, being an author was one of those "dream jobs". I even wrote a few little books (but, they weren't really great). In Kindergarten, I wrote a little tale about "How Number 1 Met Number 2" (They met at a grocery store where Number One told Number Two that she was going to have a baby. I was a little obsessed about the little sibling thing. Kind of awkward. I might share it sometime if you're really lucky). In fourth grade, my friend and I wrote a book called "The Boat Trip" about...you guessed it, a boat trip. In those very few short pages, we had pirates, cannons, adventures, and a trip to go see a favorite teacher. But, neither of those were published. Not like this anyways.

Over the last year, I've been hard at work on a book. The other night, I finished it. As I tweeted Wednesday, "I really might just cry. My book is finished. So much went into those 11,000 words (yes, it's short), but it is my heart." I've been a little self conscious over the length. But, I didn't want to write fluff. I didn't want to put unnecessary words on the page. My vision for this book was for it to be as if we sat down for a conversation. Therefore, it's pretty casual in it's tone. You won't find many big words (like eschatology) in this one.

My heart. My passion. Some of my writings over the past year have come from this book, but not the complete story. Not everything. Other portions of the book are from my journal. It's real. It's raw. It's messy. It's not all princesses and sparkles (but, it's not super depressing, don't worry!), but that's how my life is, and I'd imagine that yours is probably the same. There are times of sparkle and times of dimness. This is the story of many, many seasons. I've been stuck on the last chapter for about a month now, but during last Sunday's sermon at church, it all came together and ended in a nice neat,pretty bow.

I'd like to introduce you to my baby now.

Finding Beauty in the Breakdown. You see that name in the small print under the title? That's MINE!! As the description says, 

Worry and anxiety about the future are two of the biggest problems that people face. In an uncertain world, how can we trust that the future is going to turn out okay? We have to learn to rely on God and trust that he can and will provide for our every need. Life isn't worth worrying over, that is just wasting the precious time that God has blessed us with. It's time to take off the shame related to struggling with anxiety and time to start finding beauty in the breakdown.

If you've read my blog for long, you know my story. You know how I'm an obsessive planner and how I worry about everything. This is the story of my journey. It's a little scary to release this baby out there into the world, but I really want to share my story. I really want to show how hope can come, even in the darkest of times, if we just remember to turn on the light. 

So, I know this sounds kind of weird and all. I mean, really...I hate selling myself (that's why interviews aren't really my favorite- I don't like rejection. I mean, look at the book we are dealing with here!). But, I'd be honored if you would read my book. I have this dream of being the next Beth Moore, and girls, we have a long way to go to get there. This book is available on Kindle. I've priced the book at $0.99. I'd love for you to support me in this endeavor- as you've supported me all of this time since 2009 when I first began this blog. In fact, if you just so happened to read this book and you turned to the Dedication page, you might just find something special.

This book is for my “Not Your Everyday Cinderellas”- my girls that have supported me through my blog over the last few years. You girls have seen me through my ups and downs. My good days- and my not so good days. You were there for me after Chicago and you loved on me. I’m forever grateful for that.

Thank you so much for your support. I love the fact that when I'm going through a hard time, I've got all my blog friends to depend on me. I know we don't know each other "in real life", but I really feel like we do. 

An added fact. I'm hard at work on the print version of the book. It comes out to about 70 pages. I had some minor issues that needed to be fixed before the book went to the printing presses which delayed this release a bit. When it is released, it will also be available on Amazon, but it will cost slightly more ($3.99). Currently, we're on a 4-7 day wait to get into the Amazon system, but it is on the way! I wanted a hard copy of my book to remember this momentous occasion, but it will also be available to any of you who are interested. I will post more details when I get them (hopefully in the next few days)! This upcoming week on the blog will be Book Launch Week, so stay tuned for more information! Yay! :)

(By the way, if you're keeping track, I've now completed Goal #2 from my New Years Goals and #29 on my 101 in 1001! Yay!)

Finals Fun: Day 5

Okay, is the LAST DAY OF FINALS!!!! (Can you sense the excitement?) Today is my Church History final, so I thought we'd pull out some giggles from the early church.

Okay, so I get some slack sometimes in my classes because I'm republican and I really don't think that there is anything wrong with the military. Not that we should go out there and kill everyone, but I think that there is a time and place that war is necessary to preserve the piece. Well, in the early church (think Rome) all Christians were pacifists (pretty much anyways). They practiced non-violence and modeled their actions after Jesus. They thought that it was wrong to fight in the Roman army and wouldn't fight, and this wasn't looked upon fondly by the Romans (as you can imagine). This view shifted during the Constantinian Watershed when Constantine converted and all of Rome became "Christian". I mean, if it didn't there would be no army and the nation of Rome would be destroyed, and chaos would break loose...and you get the idea. Early Christians were pacifist.

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Okay, so who doesn't like Luther? While the whole denomination thing has really divided the church (in a not so great way), I think we can recognize the significance this man had (and for you non-Church theologians out there, it started with just a few and then ballooned to what we have today. There was a time we didn't have Southern Baptists and Methodists. Just an fyi. Free factoid of the day).

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Finals Fun: Day 4

Woohoo! Day 4! I am going to survive finals week! My "hardest" finals are over and done (Philosophy and Ethics) and I feel like I have a chance of finishing this semester. I'm really enjoying all of these funny pictures and comics this week. They're bringing sparkle to my life (haha, I'm easily amused). So, since today is my "General Epistles" final (also known as the catholic epistles or James-Jude), I thought we'd pull out some funny New Testament jokes.

We talked a lot about the day of the Lord in class (next semester in Apocalyptic Lit it's going to be even worse). Since it's 2012, I thought I should throw this one in for good measure.

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Okay, so this baby makes me giggle. And one of my pet peeves is people that use verses out of context and manipulate them to mean what "they" want them to mean. Read the whole thing people. Put those verses in context and see if "your meaning" still fits. Look at those surrounding verses, they really are pretty important.

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Okay, so this one, I'm not really sure how it relates to the class. But, it made me smile. Jesus loved me before I was "cool". Before I was perfect and sin-free...that gives me hope! Even though we may not give, God keeps on giving. He doesn't withhold from us to enforce behavior change- he loves us anyways.

Finals Fun: Day 3

Christian Ethics final today, so I thought we'd giggle over theology a little.
Wait, you mean you don't giggle over theology on a regular basis?

I'm kind of a fan of this whole "Hey Girl" thing. I mean, Ryan Gosling. I first discovered Handmade Ryan Gosling. It's basically the "Hey Girl" thing with a crafty twist (because who doesn't want a cute crafy boy?) Then, thanks to my dear mother, I discovered Theology Ryan Gosling. It's pretty much a new favorite. Their tagline is "Helping disenfranchised female theologians feel loved one line at a time". Appropriate for the day? I think so. Here's some of my favorites, but you can go here to check out the rest!

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It's official. I need to find me a cute theologian and run off and get married. Yep. That's the solution to all of life's problems.

Finals Fun: Day 2

Okay, Philosophy finals is now over and DONE. It was really the only one I was stressed out about (I'm on the verge of making an A), but I've realized that it's okay if I get a B in that class. I mean, it's Philosophy. I have no desire to ever talk about that subject matter again. I'm hoping for a little generosity in the grading, but it's going to be borderline no matter what. So, I guess we'll just see when grades get posted next week.

I kind of forgot who Kant was. And Hume? Who is that guy (only two of the most important philosophers)? The one question that discussed both of them was a little hard (as in I mixed up coercion and causation). Hey, they both start with "c". But, in my defense, I missed about a week of class around the time of "that discussion" because of allergies and sinus problems, so I was going all from the book. Have any of you tried reading a philosophy book lately? One without cartoons and fun pictures? It's not real fun. Or educational. Whatever, I "Kant" understand this guy.

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Whatever. I tried the whole "questioning everything" policy (and I think we did pretty good at it), but there was still a test to be taken. I'm just glad that it's done. Sadly, the following cartoon is incorrect.

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And just because I think it's a fitting ending...

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I have a feeling that this week is going to make me look like a major nerd on my blog.

Which might just be true.
The End.

Finals Fun: Day 1

So, I have a philosophy final tomorrow.

I'm fairly certain that my brain may explode between this and my ethics final. So, since my brain feels like it's leaking out my ears, I'm attempting to find the sparkle in the situation- by making punny philosophy jokes, of course! Finals fun, we've just begun. Let's start with some silly puns!

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I think I'm going to make this a Finals Week series. Philosophy jokes today, ethics/theology jokes tomorrow...oh dear. (I apologize in advance if you aren't familiar with the fields of philosophy and religion. You guys have no idea what's coming for you. But, I'm sure it will be super educational and Google will become your best friend!)